Do you want to know where to live in Tokyo? Tokyo was selected as the 2015 world’s best place to live by popular periodical Monocle. Tokyo had to settle for the second place last year and it is the first time the megalopolis topped the list since the magazine began the annual survey on quality of life in the world nine years ago. Top five cities included Tokyo, followed by Vienna, Berlin, Melbourne and Sydney.
Here is a little Tokyo trivia. How many cities is Tokyo comprised of? It’s not an easy question for even for Tokyo residents beyond the famous and prestigious Tokyo 23 wards.
The answer: In addition to 23 wards that together make up world’s most populous metropolis, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government actually administers 39 districts in the western side of the district. The 39 districts incorporate 8 villages (“mura”), 5 towns (“cho” in Japanese) and 26 cities.
Tokyo after all covers a vast area and it makes choosing area to move in very difficult. When in doubt, we should check with the locals. Since 2011, the Recruit has been asking residents of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba and Ibaraki of the Kanto Area where they most desire to live in. This year’s top ten most desired places to live were dominated by areas within the Tokyo Metropolis:
- Kichijoji, Musashino City, Tokyo
- Ebisu, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
- Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
- Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
- Musashi Kosugi, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture
- Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
- Naka-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
- Omotesando, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
- Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
- Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo and Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture
Kichijoji has kept its dominance since the Recrute began the survey on the most desirable area to live in since 2011. Kichijoji has the amazing shopping district and shopping arcades spreading from JR Kichijoji train station, which has the JR Chuo train line and Keio Inogashira train Line from Shibuya. Also Kichijoji to Shinjuku is only 16 minutes on the JR Chuo Line.
Additionally to vibrant shopping district, Kichijoji is most famous for its much famed park, Inogashira Koen. The park is chosen as the favourite places to admire beautiful cherry blossom (sakura).
Interestingly, when the same people were asked a slightly different question, this time not the most desirable, but the most “livable” area in the Kanto area, they had different areas in mind. The best place to live area in Kanto went to Kitasenju in Adachi-ku:
- Kitasenju, Adachi-ku, Tokyo
- Akabane, Kita-ku, Tokyo
- Musashi-Kosugi, Kawasaki City
- Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo
- Kotake-Mukaihara, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
- Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
- Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo
- Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture
- Nerima, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
- Oimachi, Ota-ku, Tokyo
It seems that Kitasenju won the hearts of many primarily with two factors – extremely well connected with 5 major train lines and the cheap living cost.
Comparing the two surveys above, Musashi-Kosugi and Ikebukuro are the only two areas that are selected within top ten. If you are moving to Tokyo, it might be your worthwhile to check these two towns.
